Edgerton House Association Charter

Article I: Name

The name of the governing body of Edgerton House shall be the Edgerton House Association.

Article II: Definition of Membership

The membership consists of the Executive Committee of Edgerton House. All members must be MIT affiliates. Members of the Executive Committee must live in Edgerton, or move to Edgerton when space becomes available.

Article III: Executive Committee

The Association shall be headed by an Executive Committee with eleven voting members. These eleven members shall be as follows: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Environmental Chair, IT Chair, Facilities Chair, Social Chairs (3), and Social Publicity Chair. All positions must be held by distinct MIT students. In addition, non-voting members of the Executive Committee shall be as follows: the Head of House, Desk Associates and Building Manager. With the exception of the non-voting members, Executive Committee members must be residents of Edgerton House or become residents of Edgerton House during their term.

The Executive Committee shall have the following rights and duties:

  1. Representation of Edgerton House with the Housing Office and the Institute.
  2. Recommendation of uses for all house funds, including funds from the Housing Office and all other sources appropriated for Edgerton House residents.
  3. Recommendation for the regulation and use of the common facilities of Edgerton House. These shall include but not be limited to the common lounges, the exercise room, the music room, the common storage, the bicycle storage areas, and the recycling rooms.

Article IV: Meetings

The President shall call Meetings of the Executive Committee at their discretion. In an Executive Committee Meeting, voting members of the executive committee may cast votes. Unless otherwise stated in this constitution, any official decision must be passed by a majority vote in the Committee with at least 5 of the voting members present. Executive Committee Meetings shall be open to residents, except when a majority of the voting members present decides it necessary to exclude them for discussion of a particular issue.

Any resident of the House can request the calling of an Edgerton House Meeting. In an Edgerton House Meeting, all residents in attendance may cast a vote. For an Edgerton House Meeting to take place, a petition must be signed by 25 residents of the House and presented to the Executive Committee. The President must subsequently schedule and publicize the Edgerton House Meeting within two weeks. The Secretary shall notify all residents at least three days before the Meeting. To reach any official decision, there must be a majority vote of those present with at least ten residents in attendance.

Article V: Expenditure of House Funds

The Treasurer shall present the budget for the following school year to the residents. At the end of each semester, an account of the expenditures of that semester shall be created, and be made available upon request by a House resident.

Article VI: Terms of Office

The terms of office for Executive Committee members shall be as follows: Members of the Executive Committee shall be elected to one-year terms that last from the first Monday in April to the day before the first Monday in April of the following year. Any member of the Executive Committee must reside in the Abode during their term, and in the event they leave prematurely, shall resign from their position on the Executive Committee.

The Building Manager, and the Desk Associates shall have indefinite non-voting terms on the Executive Committee until their tenures on the respective positions terminate.

Article VII: Elections

The Executive Committee shall sponsor elections before the residents by the end of March. All members of the executive committee shall be elected at this time. The voting period is recommended to last for one week, but may be set at the discretion of the Executive Committee. Voting shall occur via electronic ballot which will be delivered to all current Edgerton residents through email. Candidates are prohibited from offering incentives or intimidating residents.

Voting will be conducted using a Condorcet voting system, specifically through ranked pairs voting (See Appendix A). In the event of a cyclic tie, one revote may be invoked (though it is noted that a change in outcome would require a change in voters or preferences). If another cyclic tie is reached, the successfully elected members of the new Executive Committee will appoint one of the tied candidates via a simple majority vote. In the event that a post is not contested, the candidate shall automatically be declared the winner.

Officer vacancy may occur due to an officer resigning from their position, being impeached, moving out of Edgerton, or graduating (thereby losing MIT affiliation and becoming ineligible to serve on the executive committee).

In the event of vacancy of the President role, the Vice President will serve as a successor to the President, and the office of Vice President will be filled as described in the paragraph below.

In the event of an officer vacancy (with the exception of the President), the remaining officers should notify the House within two weeks and ask that residents interested in filling the vacancy identify themselves to the House officers. A vote will then be held to appoint a nominee to fill the vacancy, requiring a majority vote of the remaining officers with at least 5 officers voting. The vacant office should be filled within one month after the previous officer has vacated the position.

Article VIII: Transition

After elections, the previous officers will continue to attend meetings in an advisory role for a period of one month. They will not have executive voting power, but will assist the new officers in becoming familiar with the processes and resources available to them. During this month, the old officers should make all reasonable attempts to attend executive board meetings.

Article IX: Impeachment

In the event that an Edgerton resident or affiliate believes there is a serious dereliction of duty of an Executive Committee Member, the resident or affiliate may request that the Executive Committee and the Head of House examine the Executive Committee Member’s performance. This request must be a signed, written statement of no less than 250 words, and may include additional documents.

In the event of serious dereliction of duty, an Executive Committee member can be removed from office by either of two methods:

  1. Referendum: For impeachment of the officer by public election, a petition signed by 25 residents shall be presented to the Executive Committee. The petition shall request a referendum on the removal of the officer in question. Official impeachment shall require a two-thirds vote of those residents voting in a referendum, with at least thirty residents voting.
  2. Executive Committee vote: Should an officer be derelict in their duties, or obstruct the normal function of House activities, then that officer can be removed from office with a 2/3 vote of all other elected Executive Committee members and the approval of the Head of House

Article X: Officers Emeritus

The “Officers Emeritus” shall consist of all unimpeached former Edgerton House Association members who are current residents of Edgerton House. They shall serve as an ex-officio advisory board to the current Executive Committee.

Article XI: Amendments

Amendments to the articles set forth in this charter shall require a majority vote in the Executive Committee and a two-thirds vote of the residents voting in a referendum, with at least thirty residents voting.

Article XII: Emergency Operation

In case of extreme circumstances, officers and residents shall consult with the Head of House and have the ability to propose special house policies, including but not limited to modifications to quiet hour policy, guest policy, and reservation policy. When a proposed policy change receives majority support from the proposing body as outlined in Article IV, it shall be submitted for a house-wide vote. The proposed change shall be enacted only upon receiving approval from two-thirds of voting residents, provided that at least fifty percent of all residents participate in the vote. All special policies enacted must be documented with the date of enactment, the circumstances necessitating the change, and the duration or conditions for policy termination.

If the temporary suspension of one or more rules in this constitution is required, the Edgerton House Association may pass a measure calling on the Graduate Student Council to support the suspension. Either the Graduate Student Council General Council or Executive Committee may then support this motion, enforcing the temporary suspension. An end date for the suspension must be included with the motion.

Appendix A

Ranked pairs voting has been chosen to prevent vote-splitting and (theoretically) eliminate the need for runoff elections. Information on ranked pairs voting can be found here.

To conduct ranked pairs voting, a ballot counting code and instructions to set up google forms are included here: devault-settings/votecounter: A Vote Counting Code for Ranked Pairs Elections

Additional Edgerton house government policies and procedures (not part of the Constitution) are laid out below:.

Noise

Quiet hours

Quiet hours are from 12am-8am Mon-Thurs nights, 2am-8am Fri-Sat nights. Parties and loud noise are strongly discouraged throughout final exam period. Keep noise at other times to a reasonable level. Note that Edgerton walls are very thin, so something as simple as increasing the TV’s volume could be keeping someone else awake.

Noise inside Edgerton

Please attempt to contact the resident first. If the noise persists during Quiet Hours, you can call Unit 12, the MIT police ((617) 253-1212). For persistent noise problems (i.e. a party every Friday), please contact the EHA President at eha-president@mit.edu.

Noise outside Edgerton

For example: deliveries to adjacent businesses, loading dock noise, etc. Please contact EHA President and HoH at eha-president@mit.edu and mindell@mit.edu with as much information as possible about the incident.

If it is a Novartis nitrogen gas refill, they are supposed to schedule them outside of local ordinance quiet hours, and alert the City if there is an emergency requiring an after-hours refill. If a nitrogen gas refill is happening after hours, please email alicia.dernier@novartis.com and novartis@mit.edu documenting the incident, and CC the EHA President and HoH.

Room Policies

Smoking

All MIT buildings are smoke-free – this includes offices, halls, rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, lounges, hallways, staircases, emergency exit routes and entrance areas. Smoking inside the Edgerton courtyard is permitted if it does not disturb anyone. Edgerton holds a strict non-smoking policy:

  • First offense: Warning
  • Second offense: $100 fine billed to your MIT account
  • Third offense: Removal from building

Maintenance access

Please do not block the heating/air-conditioning unit. Access to the unit is imperative for your safety.

Edgerton residents’ checklist

Once you are at Edgerton, you and your suitemates will be required to fill out a residents’ checklist and submit it by the end of September. This list contains items such as – who will clean the bathroom, how do we take care of the common areas, what are our apartment’s guest policies, etc. This checklist is an agreement among the apartment occupants and its main purpose is to prevent problems and confrontations at a later date. The list will be provided to you and your suitemates.

Visitor policy

Each resident is allowed 6 guests for visitation per day. Overnight guest are allowed for only three consecutive nights, or three nights per week. Any overnight guest that needs more than three nights should be approved by the HoH. All guests including MIT residents need to show proper identification (photo ID preferred). If guests arrive and there is nobody staffing the desk, they should use the sign-in sheet at the front desk to check-in. Guests should contact the resident to inform them that they are waiting inside the lobby. The resident must come and meet them in the Front Lobby. No unescorted visitors will be allowed past the front desk.

  • Hosts are responsible for their guests at all times. Guests may not use common areas of the building without their host.

  • Guests must be escorted by the resident host when entering/exiting the building.

  • Residents are prohibited from giving guests their room/apartment keys or MIT ID card or Mobile ID data at any time.

  • Guests, as well as all non-residents, are not allowed to enter MIT residence halls with any animal(s), except service animals which have been individually trained to do work or perform a task on behalf of an individual with a disability.

No other visitors will be allowed in the building. Guests are allowed in Edgerton a maximum of three days/nights per week. Please remember to be respectful of your suitemate’s wishes regarding visitors.

Pets

In the graduate residences, no pets may be kept by residents or guests. The term “pets” includes mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Fish are not specifically prohibited. Students accompanied by a Guide Dog or Hearing Dog are exempted from the prohibition of pets on campus. Roommates will be informed of the presence of this type of pet and allowed to transfer if a problem arises.

Reservations and Events

Policy for lounge use and reservations

(The definitions and rules presented are MIT Policy – please don’t yell at us!)

Residents must reserve the lounges and BBQ pits for a party, defined as a gathering of more than 10 people at which food or drink will be served. If there is no reservation on file, the event can be closed down immediately.

WHO can make reservations for using the lounge?

  • ONLY residents of Edgerton House

  • Residents or groups are discouraged from reserving a lounge regularly or frequently (i.e. for a weekly club meeting)

  • MIT activities, clubs, groups, etc. are expected to use other MIT facilities on campus and only to use Edgerton facilities if no other campus facilities are available.

WHEN can facilities be reserved?

  • 11am – 10pm if there are classes on the day after the event (Sun. – Thurs.)

  • 11am – 1am if there are no classes on the day after the event (Fri., Sat.)

  • Events during the summer and extended holidays (i.e. Spring Break) would fall into the second category

  • During the final exam period, lounges may only be used for quiet study or House sponsored study breaks

  • Please be considerate of other residents, especially late at night; all functions must end by 10pm Sun. – Thurs., 1am Fri. – Sat. (you have an extra hour to clean and leave the lounge)

  • For reservations by multiple people on the same day, please allow a two-hour cushion between reservations

  • Only one lounge may be reserved at a given time – the other lounge must remain open (this does not include the BBQ pit, which may be reserved at the same time as a lounge)

How to make reservations?

  • Lounges and BBQ pits are reserved on a first come, first served basis
  • Reservations can be made on the Edgerton webpage
  • Please plan your event far enough in advance to use the normal reservation procedure; however, provided the lounge is free, last-minute reservations are possible
  • Any questions regarding reservations should be directed to the Reservations Officer (eha-reservations@mit.edu)

What about alcohol?

  • Parties with alcohol (whether you or your guests provide it) have to be registered with additional campus bodies in addition to the front desk, so all paperwork must be submitted a minimum of 4 working days before your event

  • A party with alcohol is a gathering of 6 or more people with more than a 6-pack

  • The event must be registered with Residence and Campus Activities, which takes 5-7 business days to process and must be signed by the House Manager; more information at: http://web.mit.edu/alcohol/www/events.html

  • You are required to take specific precautions to prevent the possession and consumption of alcohol by those under 21

  • ALCOHOL IS NOT ALLOWED UNLESS THE EVENT HAS BEEN REGISTERED WITH THE ABOVE BODY – FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN AN UNPLEASANT VISIT BY THE CAMPUS POLICE.

Before the event

  • Signs announcing the reservation should be posted on the lounge doors by noon on the day before the event; signs are included in the reservation package
  • If your guests are non-Edgerton residents, please leave a guest list at the desk to facilitate their entry into the building
  • If you need a vacuum for clean up, please check it out before the desk closes
  • Please ensure the facility is in good shape before your event starts and report any damage it to the appropriate officer, or it will become your responsibility
  • For the BBQ pit, check the build-up of ash in the pit; if it exceeds 1 cm, then the ashes should be removed (but only if they are cold!)

During the event

  • The event sponsor must remain at the event from beginning to end

  • You are responsible for ALL the actions of your guests while at Edgerton; any damage, theft, etc. that may occur in the lounges or anywhere else in Edgerton as a result of your guests’ actions will be your responsibility

  • Please do not abuse common room equipment; do not place other objects such as coats, food, or people on the equipment

  • If the common room equipment is damaged during the function, the event’s sponsor is liable for the full cost of repair or replacement of the equipment, up to its original price (Note: each piece of equipment costs over $1000)

After the event

  • Please ensure facilities are clean at the end of the event – failure to do so will result in a fine between $10 and $100 levied through the Bursar’s office
  • Return furniture to original position, empty garbage cans and dispose of contents in the trash chutes, vacuum carpets, and take reservation signs down

  • If a desk worker is on duty after the party, check out with the desk worker, who will check the lounge condition

Alcohol policy

MIT’s alcohol policy (serving alcohol at events, etc.) can be found in the MIT handbook and in the Event Planning Guide. These can be found here:

  • https://handbook.mit.edu/alcohol
  • http://web.mit.edu/eventguide/eventregulations/alcohol.html

Large event registration

For events in residence halls, the following types of events must be registered with MIT:

  • Any event open to non-residents where the attendance will exceed 100 people
  • Any event closed to non-residents where the attendance will exceed 250 people
  • All events at which alcohol will be present.

Registration forms must be completed at least five (5) business days prior to the event date to ensure that Campus Police and licensing can be processed/arranged with enough lead-time. For more information on event registration see https://institute-events.mit.edu/plan/event-registration.